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| Sunday, 2 January 2005 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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President identifies key areas to achieve goals Christopher A. Wijeyeweere It is pertinent to give serious thought to the speech made by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga on "Unity and Diversity keeping South Asia together" at the Hindustan Times Leadership Initiative session held in New Delhi, India on November 5, 2004. President Kumaratunga emphasised the importance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) adopted by the UN member states in the year 2000. These goals addressed the essential dimensions of poverty and their effects on people's lives. The President's speech was so visionary that it had a remarkable relevance for the present and for the future. I like to quote a few relevant sections from her speech. ".....We have to search for practical tools that could help us along the path. Could we not commence with the UN's Millennium Development Goals programme?" ".....I shall summarise my proposals for an action plan......... Formulate effective regional action plans within the UN Millennium Development Goals programme and implement them within a limited timeframe. Thereby we would successfully alleviate much of the poverty which is the scourge of our Nations". The Millennium Development Goals adopted by the UN member States in the year 2000 are broad goals for the entire world. They address issues related to poverty reduction, health, gender quality, education and environment sustainability. If this is the vision of President Kumaratunga all State agencies and the country as a whole should take up and comply with this appeal for a pro-poor agenda to give the poor a better deal. For the aspirations of the President to be fulfilled and not to go by default, relevant state agencies responsible for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals have a critical role to play. A great deal of pro-active reforms is necessary. People-based and people focused development efforts should be the aim in realising MDGs. We need to re-design the targets to cater to our own need. This will enhance the enthusiasm of the 'Small Man'. Lack of integration, co-ordination and communication between and among the executing agencies and the stake holder partners have left the Local Authorities and Local Communities isolated. Government must also encourage 'Small People' to participate actively in civic work in their local areas. Hence we need to localise the National policies since there is hardly any initiative for policy making or strategic planning at local level. It must be ensured that the stakeholder partners are involved in National Development efforts of the Government. People need not hesitate to be innovative. Through creative reforms, we can develop a caring, people concerned integrated development activities embracing the Millennium Development Goals of the UN.The Ministry of Housing is the focal point of the UN Habitat activities, hence housing has been recognised as the gateway or the entry point to all development activities of the nation. All rural development activities and village reawakening efforts of the state should be centred on housing at regional and provincial levels. A large number of rural poor are far from centres of power and very often neglected by the decision-makers. They lack access and the kind of resources and the opportunities necessary for making a decent livelihood and provide themselves with decent shelter. This leads to economic desperation and shattering of their hope for a better future and motivate the rural poor to move into cities in search of greener pastures. This tends to breakdown the economic growth of the cities too. Rural development therefore is the key issue that needs to be addressed in fighting poverty. A selected poor district in a province should be identified with the concurrence of the political leadership and all other stakeholders within that district. A comprehensive development programme should be worked out covering each local authority area of the selected district, with the necessary inputs to achieve the Millennium Development Goals to meet the challenges of the poor. The realisation of Millennium Goals will depend entirely on the performance of the Ministries responsible for the implementation of the programme. If the key seven areas of the MDG are considered as one single process of an integrated effort, then it will be possible for the aspirations of the President to be accomplished. Towards this goal the President will necessarily have to appoint a National Steering Committee preferably under direction and guidance to plan, co-ordinate, direct and monitor this programme on a high priority basis. The projects so undertaken should be carried out as development programmes of the provinces with necessary inputs from the identified relevant line Ministries, other implementing agencies, Provincial Councils and the Local Authorities. These District/Provincial Development Programmes should adopt a community based integrated approach with a view to assisting community to come out of their present state of underdevelopment. This exercise should be aimed at enhancing the quality of life of the people especially the poor and the disadvantaged. Provision of basic necessities such as shelter, water and sanitation primary health care, education, welfare and improvement of the transport network etc in the areas in focus will place the rural community at the centre of the development programme. The objective of this programme should be to provide. * Essential infrastructure facilities * Basic human needs to the most needy * Basic services to the most under-developed areas * Poverty alleviation programmes to eradicate poverty * Employment opportunities for the unemployed and the under- employed * Promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women * Promotion of good governance * Ensure primary education to all children * Improve maternal health and reduce child mortality among children under five * Improve health facilities mainly to combat AIDS, Malaria and other diseases * Ensure environmental sustainability * Improve the lives of urban slum dwellers and the poor housing stock in the rural areas. Many a problem in all sectors of development was the result of poor governance and lack of institution-building. Commitment towards enabling local leadership, decentralising authority and resources formation of community based organisations, institutionalising a participatory approach to development and management, conducting and managing a continuous dialogue with the civil society, capacity building and training, promoting equal access to reliable information and ensuring the availability of education are the major components of good governance. The National Steering Committee so formed should re-invent the wheel of development and put an end to "Doing it alone", which is the habit of the national implementing agencies. The rural and the urban poor should also be given the opportunity of sharing experiences and the lessons learnt. This will lead to positive changes even in the development of new technology and help create synergy, replicate and upscale innovative approaches of the rural and the urban poor. A nation-wide attempt to realise the Millennium Development Goals of the UN will develop national and local linkages between policy and practice.Local authorities should be recognised and given the responsibility in the implementation of national policy and tackling urban and rural poverty. National shelter programmes should be combined with the action plan developed to realise the Millennium Development Goals. This will automatically improve the living conditions of the poor and realise the ultimate goal of the Government. **** Scope of Millennium Development Goals Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women Goal 4. Reduce child mortality Goal 5. Improve maternal health Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainability Targets: Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies: and programmes: reverse loss of environmental resources. Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers, by 2020 Goal 8. Develop a global partnership for development |
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